Saturday, January 8, 2011

Mark Zuckerberg is Time's Man of the Year, the movie about him seems likely to be an Oscar winner, and now Goldman Sachs is raising $1.5 billion from its favorite investors on behalf of the social networking company.

At the very same moment, Facebook's only real competitor --NewsCorps' waning social networking site, MySpace -- is shedding employees and expenses, most likely in hopes of a fire sale.

But appearances can be deceiving. In fact, as I read the situation, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Facebook. These aren't the symptoms of a company that is winning, but one that is cashing out.

Indeed, 11 years ago this week, when AOL announced its $350 billion merger with Time Warner, I was asked to write an OpEd for the New York Times explaining.....

A depressed charity worker killed herself as Facebook users mocked a suicide note she left on the social networking website.

So-called Facebook ‘friends’ of Simone Back responded with cruel messages after she posted a message that read: ‘Took all my pills be dead soon so bye bye every one.’

One user replied calling her a liar who ‘overdoses all the time’ while another said it was ‘her choice’. Miss Back, 42, is thought to have been dying of an overdose as the messages were posted on Christmas Day.

Jennifer Langridge, 60, said: ‘Nobody told me anything about it until the following day when I was sent a text saying “Get help”. I am disabled so can’t get up the stairs to Simone’s flat so I called the police straight away. It is upsetting to think nobody did anything for my daughter.’

Miss Back’s friend, Samantha Owen, said: ‘Everyone just carried on arguing with each other on Facebook like it wasn’t happening. Some of those people lived within walking distance of Simone.

‘If one person just left their computer and went to her house her life could have been saved.’

Miss Back posted her final status update at 10.53pm on Christmas Day. At 11pm, one of Miss Back’s friends wrote in response: ‘She ODs all the time and she lies.’

An hour later a Facebook user wrote: ‘Did you catch the part about Simone taking pills?? .. the ‘bye bye’ part?? Did anyone go by personally and check on Simone.. or call 999?? what’s wrong with you people??’

The first friend responded: ‘She does it all the time, takes all of her pills,’ adding: ‘She’s not a kid anymore.’

Another Facebook user replied: ‘If any of you lot actually call yourself a friend one of you should call around and see if she’s ok, so glad I don’t personally know any of you, heartless.’

KUALA LUMPUR: “It was the first and the last time he said he loved me in 22 years of knowing him. And now, he’s gone,” sobbed air stewardess, Chelvin Kong, 28, recalling her last conversation with her brother.

He committed suicide in the wee hours of Wednesday last week. Stating she and her brother, Alviss, 22, had drifted apart since she moved to Brunei after getting married and joining the Royal Brunei Airlines some nine years ago, they still stayed in touch via Facebook.

"I would check his status updates on Facebook before going to bed and we would tease and exchange comments with each other," Chelvin told The Malay Mail.

She became concerned when she saw Alviss' status at 11.15pm on Tuesday, stating there was a 45-minute countdown to the end of his life.

“At first, I thought he was joking," said Chelvin. "What freaked me out was him asking me to take care of the family, especially my mum.”

Taken aback by Alviss' comments, Chelvin said: “Never once had he expressed such mushy words in all the years I had known him.”

Chelvin then tried to call her brother about 1.30am.

When she did not get a response, she contacted her father to check on Alviss. Her father told her Alviss was at his usual mamak spot near their apartment, having a drink with his friends.

Chelvin then persuaded her father to go to the mamak stall and call her from there.

“I spoke to Alviss when my father passed the phone to him. When I scolded him for not answering his handphone, his excuse was he had not heard it ringing. He told me the Facebook comments were just a joke and that he was pulling a prank on his friends.

”During the call, Chelvin said he assured her everything was fine and told her to go to sleep. Reassured, Chelvin called it a night. Thus, she was shocked to get a call from her father later at 3.30am telling her Alviss had jumped off the 14th floor of the apartment building.

“I heard a loud noise and when I looked down from the veranda. It was Alviss lying covered in blood on a car at the ground floor," he had told her.

It is learnt Alviss had been emotionally istressed over a recent breakup with his girlfriend.

Chelvin said she knew about her brother's relationship and learnt the couple had split from his Facebook relationship status update.

It is learnt Alviss and his ex-girlfriend were together for four months. Both had been blogging about the end of the relationship.Alviss

LAST PICTURE ALIVE: Alviss' final Facebook photo

In a farewell note on his Facebook profile page, Alviss posted one last picture of himself tearing up. Alviss' father, a taxi driver, was disappointed at not being informed his son had been harbouring suicidal thoughts.

Declining to be named, the 60-year-old said he learnt only later that Alviss had confided to his friends about his heartbreak.

He felt they should have alerted a family member, whether or not it was a prank.

"I was there at the mamak stall with Alviss. His friends could have alerted me then about the comments and his conversations with them."

He denied barring the ex-girlfriend from visiting his son's body last Thursday.

“I'm not angry with his ex-girlfriend. She can come and pay her respects if she wants.”

Noting Alviss had introduced the woman as his girlfriend a few months back, he said: "Why didn't he think about his family as much as he did for a girl he only knew for four months?"

Meanwhile, Alviss' mother had yet to be informed of his death as she is reportedly emotionally weak and the family was waiting for the right time to break the news.

She is currently in Brunei to help care for Chelvin’s newborn daughter and is still under the impression the couple had rushed to KL on an urgent work matter.

Mutual friends of the ex-couple were seen outside the funeral parlour at Jirat Kwong Tong here on Friday night.

“We are all here to show support when his ex-girlfriend arrives. To us, no one is to be blamed here. We don’t want reporters to question her about anything," said one of the friends at the wake.

“Speculation from family, friends and the media stating his ex-girlfriend is the cause of the suicide should end. What has happened was just a breakup, common among youngsters these days," said another friend.